Susannah Lott and Benjamin Buss.

Susannah went to work as a maid servant to a wealthy butcher named John Lott who lived in Hythe in Kent. John Lott fell for her and repeatedly asked her to marry him, even though he was much older that her. She did not fancy John and in 1768 decided to leave his employment. She moved to Rolvenden where she met and fell in love with Benjamin Buss, a man much more her own age.

John Lott visited Susannah at Rolvenden and persisted with his marriage proposals. Buss suggested that Susannah should accept and that then she would inherit his considerable wealth when he died. It is not clear whether at this stage Susannah realised that this was really a plot to kill John for his money. But she eventually accepted John’s proposal and they were married at Rolvenden on Monday the 15th of August 1768. It appears that Buss bought some poison and gave this to Susannah for the purpose of killing John. She claimed that she threw this away.

On the 17th of August John took Susannah and Buss to see some of his properties and they stopped for a drink at Burmarsh (between Hythe and Dimchurch) and had some milk bumbo which consists of milk, rum, nutmeg and sugar. Susannah and Buss both partook of this and gave some to John. He complained to the inn keeper that the bumbo had a very unpleasant taste and she took a little and agreed with him. Throwing the rest away she noticed there was a sediment in the bottom of the bowl. John quickly became ill and had violent vomiting. The following morning Susannah sent for the doctor. In the meantime Buss went to Folkestone where he was able to purchase some mercury chloride (a white powder). He returned to Hythe and presumably administered this to John. Again it is unclear whether Susannah knew of this or whether she was actively involved.

In any event John Lott died on Friday the 26th of August 1768.

There was strong suspicion locally regarding the cause of John’s death. He had always been healthy and yet within a few days of marrying Susannah was dead. Suspicion also extended to the nature of the ongoing relationship between Susannah and Buss.

Susannah was arrested on the 1st of September and questioned by local Justice of the Peace, William Deedes. She implicated Buss and he too was arrested. The lady inn keeper was located and told authorities that she too had become ill from drinking just a tiny amount of the milk bumbo. They were also able to trace the sale of the poison at Hythe to Buss from the local apothecary (the term then for a chemist).

Susannah was remanded to prison in Canterbury and later moved to Maidstone to await trial at the Summer Assizes. She was found to be pregnant while on remand and claimed that the baby was fathered by John Lott, although it is more likely to have been by Buss.

The pair finally came to trial on the 19th of July 1769. On Friday, 21 July 1769 the Kentish Gazette reported as follows: “Susannah Lott and Benjamin Bush found guilty on an indictment for the murder of John Bush, her husband, by giving him to drink Milk Brandy water in which Mercury sublimate had been mixed, in the parish of Burmarsh on 17th August 1768, so that he died on 26th August. They were ordered to be executed on Friday the 21st of July: she to be drawn to the place of execution and there burned: he to be hanged and afterwards his body to be dissected.” Susannah, as a wife, was guilty of Petty Treason for murdering her husband, hence why she was sentenced “to be drawn on a hurdle to the usual place of execution and there to be burned until she was dead.” The Murder Act of 1752 was in force at the time so the executions had to take place within 48 hours of sentence.

The trial was reported as follows: “On came on the trial of Susannah Lott, for the murder of her husband, John Lott, of Hythe [Kent], after a long hearing she was found guilty and condemned to be drawn upon a hurdle on Friday, 21st, to the usual place of execution and there to be burnt ’till she was dead. At the same time Benjamin buss, convicted also of the murder of the said John Lott, was condemned to be hanged and his body to be afterwards delivered to the surgeon, to be dissected and anatomised. The behaviour of Mrs Lott, during her confinement, had been serious, decent and resigned. She was convicted principally on her own declaration, and the confession she signed soon after her husband was poisoned. she was much affected during the whole of her trial particularly at the time of her child being brought into court to be suckled, which was twice repeated in the course of the trial, in order, it was supposed, to excite the compassion of the jury; and at the time of her receiving sentence so great was the agonies she seemed to suffer, she drew tears from almost every body present, since when, with becoming fortitude and composure, she had borne her fate, and prepared herself for execution. Benjamin Buss behaved with an insolent indifference, till the verdict was found against him, when he instantly changed colour, and in the utmost agony, falling down on his knees. begged the mercy of the court.”

The Kentish Gazette reported the execution as under:
“On Friday last, a few minutes before 12 o’clock at noon, Susannah Lott and Benjamin Buss were taken from the (Maidstone) gaol in order to be executed. Buss, dressed in black, was carried in a wagon drawn by 4 horses and attended by 2 or 3 sheriffs officers. Mrs. Lott, dressed in a suit of morning she had for her husband immediately followed on a hurdle drawn by 4 horses. In this manner they proceeded till they came to the place of execution, (Penenden Heath) when Buss, after joining in prayer with the Clergyman, was hanged on a gallows about 100 yards from the place where Mrs Lott was to be executed. When he had hung about 15 minutes, the officers then proceeded to execute sentence on Mrs Lott, who was particularly desirous that he should suffer before her.
A post abut 7 feet high was fixed on the ground; it had a peg near the top, to which Mrs Lott, standing on a stool was fastened by the neck. when the stool was taken away, she hung about a quarter of an hour, till she was quite dead; a chain was then turned round her body, and properly fastened by staples to the post, when a large quantity of faggots being placed round her, and set on fire, the body was consumed to ashes. The man did not betray any remarkable concern for his approaching end. It is computed there were 5,000 persons attending.”

Buss had asked for the dissection part of his sentence to be remitted and this was allowed. It is unclear why Susannah wanted to watch her presumed lover die first.

Back to Contents Page